CDC: HIV Infection Rates Hold Steady Except Among Young Black Males

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that while the overall number of people who are infected each year is relatively steady, but there was a 48 percent increase in the number of young HIV-infected African American men who have sex with men from 2006 to 2009.

The Associated Press: New HIV Infections In U.S. Hold Steady At 50,000 The number of Americans newly infected with the AIDS virus each year has been holding steady at about 50,000, according to a government report released Wednesday. But a U.S. health official said just keeping the number stable was unacceptable, noting a dramatic increase in new HIV cases among young gay and bisexual black men. ... Gay and bisexual men account for the majority of the new cases -- nearly two-thirds in 2009. Heterosexuals accounted for 27 percent and injection drug users represented 9 percent of new infections (Nano, 8/3).

Reuters: HIV Infections In U.S. Stable, But Disparities Exist According to the estimates, published in the journal PLoS ONE, there were 48,600 new HIV infections in the United States in 2006, 56,000 in 2007, 47,800 in 2008 and 48,100 in 2009. Over the four-year period, that amounts to an average of 50,000 cases per year. But communities of color, and especially blacks, were disproportionately affected. While blacks represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 44 percent of new HIV infections in 2009. HIV infection rates among blacks were nearly eight times higher than rates in whites, according to the study (Steenhuysen, 8/3).

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The New York Times: New H.I.V. Cases Steady Despite Better Treatment Despite years of great progress in treating AIDS, the number of new infections with the virus that causes it has remained stubbornly around 50,000 a year in the United States for a decade, according to new figures released on Wednesday by federal officials. The American epidemic is still concentrated primarily in gay men, and is growing rapidly worse among young black gay men. That realization is causing a rift in the AIDS community. Activists say the persistent H.I.V. infection rate proves that the government prevention policy is a flop. Federal officials are on the defensive even as they concede that the epidemic will grow if prevention does not get better, which they know is unlikely while their budgets are being cut (McNeil, 8/3).

CQ HealthBeat: HIV Infection Rates Plateau, Except For Increases Among Young Black Men The number of new HIV infections each year was relatively stable between 2006 and 2009, except for an increase among young African-American men who have sex with men, according to statistics the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Wednesday. The incidence of infections rose 48 percent among young black men who had sex with men -- the only population that had a statistically significant increase in new infections (Adams, 8/3).

National Journal: CDC: HIV Infection Rates Stable, Increase Among Gay Black Males The rate of new HIV infections in the United States remained stable between 2006 and 2009 though infections increased among young black gay and bisexual men, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first multiyear estimate of national HIV incidences found new infections have remained steady with an estimated 50,000 new infections each year. But the agency expressed concerns about the "alarming" rate of new infections among young black gay and bisexual men, where there was a 48 percent increase in new infections between 2006 and 2009 (Fung, 8/3).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: The Good, The Bad And The Costly News On HIV New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that while the overall number of people who are infected with HIV each year is relatively steady -- approximately 50,000 new infections each year -- there was a 48 percent increase in the number of young HIV-infected African American men who have sex with men from 2006 to 2009 (Kulkarni, 8/3).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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